The design process: Less like rules, more like guidelines
One and half years ago I discovered UX Design, and it didn’t take long before I decided it was the new career I would pursue. I’d be on Medium regularly reading every single article I could find on the subject and attending every info session under the sun. I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the methodologies, deliverables, processes…
It was just, a lot.
I really thought that if you just do all the things, check all the boxes, you were doing UX correctly. The more methods you followed and the more tangible outputs you had, the more successful the work.
It’s not that simple in practice.
Throw a method at it. ☑️
I have a very technical brain, believe it or not. I’m a designer, but a lot of my design work has been governed by methodology and technical know-how.
“Throw a framework at it and anticipate optimal results.” — Me
The latter half of my previous fashion career had a lot to do with this shift. My work became less creative, and more systemized for the benefit of mass-market production. In a way, I became an “Apparel Engineer”, where it was less about craft and more about the end product. This isn’t entirely a bad thing, it can be very efficient, but it’s something I’m actively unlearning to get back to my creative roots to solve problems.
The UX Design…code?📜
I had my first paid gig, an internship, back in May of 2020. It was my first time without “UX training wheels.” I had a real client, and I was tasked with a real-life project. I had a real-life team of fellow students that I was given the responsibility to manage. I was also the designated UI Designer on a team that was all researchers otherwise.
(I’ll come back to why that became a problem in a moment.)
As Manager, I figured I’d create a roadmap, decide on all the deliverables we were going to need. We had Team <> Client conversations and uncovered project requirements.
Here’s where the trouble started. We were way too focused on the ‘what’ and ‘how’ and less about the ‘why.’ We took a formulaic approach to the UX process instead of doing what was best for the project. We took everything as hard and fast rules when in actuality they were more like guidelines.
We often fell into “analysis paralysis”, spinning our wheels trying to figure out how to do things “right” instead of just doing the thing. It was quite taxing, and certainly, the project suffered a bit because of it. As a manager, I took a lot of personal responsibility.
I mentioned above, trouble with being both the Project Manager and the only UI Designer on my team of five. You see, I ended up burning both ends of my candle. It was very difficult to creatively problem-solve with so many responsibilities, and my ability to see the big picture suffered, causing me to double down on following rigid procedures instead of thinking more deeply about what we needed to achieve within the constraints given.
Yikes.
But what’s important here? What I learned from my blunders.
Learning the hard way. 🏴☠️
Going forward, (taking a page out of Captain Barbossa’s book,) I’m using a more holistic and flexible approach to my UX process, taking a more circular path than a linear one. I’m open to deviating from a plan, becoming more agile when dealing with constraints and challenges, and not forcing an arbitrary design method on everything without much thought.
You can’t just throw a couple of personas and a journey map at every problem and have a eureka moment.
Keep asking why:
- Why am I creating these design artifacts?
- Do I need to make everything high fidelity to answer our initial product questions? Why?
- Do I really need all of this competitive analysis? Why?
- Why? Why? Why?
…the list goes on.
As an early-career designer, pitfalls are expected. But it doesn’t mean that I should be striving for perfection because perfection doesn’t exist in creative problem-solving. Period.
There will always be another way to do something that I may not consider, and honestly, that’s the fun of it. My mistake was getting so caught up in “How to do UX” as though there was only one fool-proof singular path.
Every project is different and the real test in becoming a more seasoned designer is knowing when to use the tools in your toolkit instead of dumping them all out on the table.
Technologies change, problems vary, and design trends come and go, but the core principle is always the why.
You can find me elsewhere ✌🏽
(Currently seeking my first role in Product Design! Leads on opportunities are appreciated!)
